Nationwide hit with fine after failing to flag Covid furlough fraud December 12, 2025 Nationwide had been slapped with a £44m fine by the City watchdog for failures in its financial crime controls. The building society giant has been blasted by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) for missing opportunities to identify fraudulent Covid furlough payments. The FCA said one customer received 24 payments, totalling north of £27m, over 13 [...]
Rachel Reeves’ Budget was ‘monumentally mishandled,’ says London-listed bank December 11, 2025 A London-listed bank has given its scathing assessment of Rachel Reeves’ second Autumn Budget and warned of the impact it will have on consumer confidence. S&U – which was founded in 1938 and once known as Sports and Utilities – said the performance of its motor finance and property financing arms was “remarkably resilient given [...]
Millions more to get financial advice as part of FCA red tape shake-up December 11, 2025 More than 18m savers will benefit from more detailed advice on their investments and pension in the next decade as part of a radical shake-up of financial red tape that the City watchdog has hailed as “game-changing”. The Financial Conduct Authority’s ‘targeted support programme’ will give financial services firms the ability to give tailored suggestions [...]
Less jargon, more advice: FCA rises to pro-growth challenge December 10, 2025 With a flurry of announcements ahead of the new year, the FCA is rising to the government’s growth mandate, writes Ali Lyon. For many of the men and women in charge of the UK’s largest financial regulator, a grey cloud will have hung heavy over any festivities last Christmas. Just a day before the seasonal [...]
UK fintech Plum follows Klarna in securing e-money licence December 8, 2025 Smart money app Plum has managed to secure an e-money licence from the City watchdog, City AM can reveal, even as the volume of application approvals slumps. Plum, which was founded by the former head of banking at Wise, Victor Trokoudes, in 2016, has received authorisation to operate as an Electronic Money Institution (EMI) from the Financial [...]
Watchdogs rip up rulebook for building societies in growth boost December 5, 2025 British building societies are in line for a deregulation boost after UK watchdogs announced a joint raft of initiatives aiming to power up the sector. Mutuals – which, contrary to banks, are owned by their members – are set to land a significant growth tailwind following a fresh report from the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) [...]
Lloyds boss: Forcing banks to hoard capital is slowing UK growth December 4, 2025 The boss of Lloyds Banking Group has called on the government to take its deregulation mission further to ramp up economic growth. Charlie Nunn, chief executive of Lloyds Banking Group, welcomed recent regulatory progress, including the Chancellor’s Leeds Reforms package, but added “they are just at the start – there is more to do”. “The [...]
Strap a rocket to UK banks or watch the City drift, shadow chancellor warns December 4, 2025 Shadow chancellor Mel Stride has called for a tearing down of burdensome City regulation to power up the financial services sector and avoid it losing status. The Tory MP said the pendulum has swung “too far in favour of trying to iron… [and] squeeze risk out of the system”. Stride called for a “bonfire of [...]
Is HSBC’s chair hunt really over? December 4, 2025 Safe, but surprising – that was the verdict across the City as Britain’s biggest bank unveiled its new chair after a twist-and-turn search. Brendan Nelson will take the post at HSBC, succeeding Sir Mark Tucker, whose exit in September left the bank without a permanent chair for weeks. Except for Nelson. Indeed, the seasoned accountant [...]
Paragon Banking chief eyes acquisitions after capital boost December 3, 2025 The boss of Paragon Banking Group has acquisitions in mind after the lender received a major tailwind from regulatory reforms this year. Nigel Terrington has said the loosening of banks’ capital requirement rules, known as MREL (minimum requirement for own funds and eligible liabilities), will open up further growth prospects for mid-cap lenders. The boss [...]